Red Garland is one of the best pianist that Jazz has ever offered but somehow his musical achievements are never mentioned. The first song on this album, “Soul Junction” gives the Jazz Con Class listeners a tiny taste of how talented he was. Garland could easily be overlooked with the presence of the names “John Coltrane” and “Miles Davis” written on the album covers. He was the unanimous choice as pianist though, just check the personnel in practically all the albums Miles and Coltrane recorded in the 50’s and early 60’s. This album here was just one of the many he recorded as a “leader” until 1979. “Soul Junction” will be featured for a few weeks and then placed in the “Hard Bop” playlist. Check the schedule link for play times, enjoy!
About the album:
Digitally remastered by Phil De Lancie (1990, Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California). While the late Red Garland is best-known and fondly remembered as the pianist for the Miles Davis Quintet in the mid-1950s, he also had a career of his own. Garland’s style was a gregarious balance of the sophistication of bebop and the earthiness of the blues. SOUL JUNCTION, recorded in 1950, is Garland leading a group featuring Davis bandmate John Coltrane and soon-to-be-rising-trumpet-star (in the late ’50s/early ’60s) Donald Byrd. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable hard bop jaunt through a Garland original and four familiar standards, with Coltrane laying down his near-torrential “sheets of sound” and Byrd playing…..Read More
Red Garland’s Biography:
Born: May 13, 1923 | Died: April 23, 1984 Instrument: Piano
Largely self-taught, Red Garland established a reputation as a solid post-bop mainstream player in the 50s, playing with many of the most famous jazz musicians of the time. He achieved international fame in the late 50s as part of the Miles Davis quintet. He went on to lead his own groups, but then retired in 1968, a victim the declining demand for jazz. He reemerged in 1976 and performed regularly until his death in 1984.
Garland was known for his eloquent middle-of-the-road style. A fertile, often moving improvisor, he developed a characteristic block chord sound by combining
octaves with a fifth in the middle in the right hand over left-hand comp (accompanying) chords. The style has been much imitated.
Origins
William M. “Red” Garland was born March 13, 1923, in Dallas, Texas. He came from a non-musical family: his father was an elevator operator at the First National Bank…….Learn More
